Dozens in Hiroshima protest Japan stance on nuclear weapons

Demonstrators in Hiroshima rallied in the dozens on Saturday to protest a decision by the Japanese government for refusing to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The demonstrators, which were estimated to be around 80 according to the Kyodo news agency, gathered in the Peace Memorial Park, which is a tribute to the more than 140,000 Japanese who were killed in the nuclear bombs thrown by the US on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, also to protest the government's decision to register for the first meeting of the treaty's 86 signatory nations in Vienna from June 21-23.

The treaty, which was sponsored by the UN, took effect in January 2021. Japan, despite being the only country in the world ever to be attacked with nuclear weapons, has resisted public pressure to sign the treaty, because it would signify an end to reliance on the US nuclear deterrent.

In 2021, the nine nuclear powers had 12,330 nuclear warheads. Now in 2022, Britain, China, France, India, "Israel", North Korea, Pakistan, the United States, and Russia had 12,705 nuclear warheads. In total, the world has 375 additional nuclear warheads according to estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

In the coming decades, nuclear arsenals “are expected to grow”, the report states. More clearly, it has been stated on several occasions that President Vladimir Putin made reference to the use of nuclear weapons in defense of the existence of the Russian state.

Unofficially, countries such as China and Britain are also modernizing and ramping up their arsenals.